‘It’s hard to see’: 8 teens injured in fuel drum explosion at beach party

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU/Gray News) - Eight teenagers from Alaska were injured in an explosion at a beach party that was sparked when authorities say a partygoer threw a 55-gallon fuel drum into a fire.

Mia Camacho, 16, is one of the teens who was injured in the early Sunday incident. Her mother, Cynthia Vazquez, has been trying to stay positive while waiting by her daughter’s side at Alaska Native Medical Center, KTUU reports.

Content warning: The details, video and photos in this article may be disturbing to some.

Vazquez says Mia attended the bonfire at Kodiak’s White Sands Beach with some friends and says she was thinking about leaving the party when — at the last minute — she decided to stay a bit longer. That decision, Vazquez said on GoFundMe, changed her daughter’s “world in a split second.”

As a result of the explosion, Mia suffered second-degree burns on her face, arms, hands and legs, according to her mother. She’s expected to remain at the hospital for no less than three weeks.

“It’s hard to see,” Vazquez said. “You had a pretty face, and it’s just her face and her hands, her legs. My faith has been tempted in these moments of darkness, but I do have a lot of friends and family that have been very supportive. But I’m only human, and I do fall apart every now and then.”

Troopers say 20 to 40 teens were attending the same party around 1 a.m. Sunday when the fuel drum exploded. Mia was among the five teens that troopers said were flown to Anchorage hospitals with moderate injuries.

Also among those teens is 15-year-old Kavik Wolfe.

Kavik‘s grandmother, Xochitl Morris, and older sister, Danica Wolfe, traveled from Kodiak to remain by the teen’s side. With severe second-degree burns to Kavik’s face and body and third-degree burns on his hands, according to Morris, they have no indication for now how long his recovery will take.

“The pain has been so strong, and he’s traumatized completely,” Morris said. “Just a few minutes ago, he passed sort of that moment, he needs to be under medication in order to support the pain. He screams, and I don’t think any kid deserves that.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Kavik’s family with expenses as he recovers.

Department of Public Safety Communications Director Austin McDaniel said troopers have arrested the teenager responsible for throwing the jug of fuel onto the fire.

“He’s been remanded to Division of Juvenile Justice custody at this point,” McDaniel said. “We are still actively investigating this and, again, encourage anybody that was at the party or anyone that has first hand information that hasn’t spoken with the state troopers to consider reaching out to the Alaska State Troopers to give us more information, so we can help conclude our investigation.”

Troopers are continuing to investigate whether anyone else was injured who may not have sought hospital care, McDaniel said.

According to McDaniel, the department is aware of eight people who did receive hospital care, including the five who were flown to Anchorage from Kodiak.

“If anyone else was injured, that’d be information we would like to know as we work with the Division of Juvenile Justice, as they work to determine what, if any, juvenile charges they may prosecute,” he said.

Troopers ask anyone who witnessed the event and hasn’t spoken to them yet to call (907) 486-4121.

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